The World Adherence Forum of the EU COST action ENABLE (ENABLE Adherence), is taking place in Brussels. Chaired by Job van Boven of the University of Groningen, the action has, over the past 4 years, brought hundreds of collaborators together to tackle the challenge of low medicine adherence affecting treatment outcomes by leveraging digital innovations.
Adherence is a very human challenge, likely one that nearly everyone experiences at some point. Whether it's following instructions, remembering what to do, or understanding the importance of consistency when results are slow to appear, these tasks can be difficult and any person taking medicines will at times have other things going on which may impact adhering further. Yet, the connection between therapeutic success and proper dosing is crucial.
Digital innovations, such as smart dispensers that capture dosing, offer a way to empower patients to remain in control of their treatment whilst connecting them to their medicine, outcomes and care team to manage adherence. Capturing dose data and adherence trends & behaviours empowers personalised support by linking dosing to outcomes. The aim of technology in these roles should be to minimise patient burden and maximise the accuracy of the decision making; removing the barriers to adhering.
The ENABLE project has made great progress raising awareness of adherence including many published papers (https://lnkd.in/dVwdrmHV) and the creation of a Digital Technology Repository to show what adherence tools are out there https://lnkd.in/d26jJTHS.The forum will be a coming together where the working groups and invited stakeholders will be sharing key findings of the COST action and contributing to an overview white paper.